Vikings lean on rookie kicker Will Reichard, and he delivers

LONDON — The Vikings drove inside the Jets’ 40-yard line on each of their first four possessions on Sunday; they ended one of those drives with a touchdown. They started a drive from the Jets’ 37 with a chance to go up by two TDs in the fourth quarter; they gained just 2 yards in their next three plays.

The fact that they beat the Jets 23-17, on their worst offensive day of the season, was owed plenty to their defense’s three turnovers. But on three occasions where they needed to salvage a drive with points, they could be comforted by turning to their rookie kicker.

Will Reichard’s 3-for-3 day on field goals Sunday included kicks of 54 and 53 yards, providing a cushion for the Vikings’ offense on a less-than-stellar day and continuing a streak of successful kicks that’s stretched for nearly two months. He is now 9-for-9 on field goal attempts this season and 16-for-16 on extra points. His first field goal of the preseason was blocked against the Raiders; since then, Reichard has made 16 straight field goals.

His 54-yarder sailed through the uprights just above a Naz Reid banner a fan hung in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium end zone, wrapping up the Vikings’ first drive with points a play after Sam Darnold took a 12-yard sack on third down.

“You should never take a sack in that moment, and Sam knows that,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But to just have [Will] stride out there and put it through with plenty of leg ... he’s made some huge kicks. He’s just walked out there and done his job with very little fanfare. And I absolutely love him. He’s cold-blooded.”

Reichard’s 53-yarder in the fourth quarter came after the Vikings went three-and-out in the fourth quarter. In a steady mist, he hit the kick to put the Vikings up 20-10.

Since his three-sack day against the Panthers in Week 4 of the 2023 season, Vikings safety Harrison Smith has been on the verge of joining some elite company. He entered Sunday’s game with 19½ career sacks, to go with his 35 career interceptions; another half-sack would make him just the seventh defensive back in NFL history with 35 picks and 20 sacks in his career.

Smith finally got the sack he needed on Sunday, taking down Aaron Rodgers for a 5-yard loss in the second quarter on a blitz. Afterward, he celebrated by mimicking Rodgers’ famed championship belt celebration that became the centerpiece of the quarterback’s State Farm insurance commercials for years.

The 35-year-old Smith joined Ronde Barber, LeRoy Butler, Brian Dawkins, Rodney Harrison, Larry Wilson and Charles Woodson in the club of defensive backs that have accomplished the feat. Of the first six to do it, only Harrison is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It was Smith’s 21st regular season game against Rodgers, who praised the safety again after the game on Sunday. The Vikings won’t play the Jets again until 2026; for them to face Rodgers again, the quarterback would need to still be playing for New York at age 42, finish his career with another team on the Vikings’ schedule or meet Minnesota in the Super Bowl.

“I’ve enjoyed the battles over the years. Unless we both get to the Super Bowl, the way the schedule is laid out, I’m not sure there’s going to be another one,” Rodgers said. “I have a lot of respect for that team. Harrison Smith, I played against him since his rookie year in 2012, I believe. A lot of respect for him. A lot of great battles over the years.”

Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel faked a pass rush in the first quarter as part of a Vikings blitz, then dropped into a throwing lane where Rodgers would be looking to beat the pass rush. Van Ginkel intercepted the future Hall of Famer, becoming the fifth player in Rodgers’ career to run an interception back for a touchdown against him.

Van Ginkel now has five career touchdowns, including four in the past three seasons, and he is tied with Jordan Addison for third on the team with two TDs this year, trailing only Justin Jefferson and Jalen Nailor.

“I’m lost for words. I couldn’t believe it happened,” Van Ginkel said of the interception. “Just a guy of that caliber, I’m just thankful. All the hard work and dedication that ‘Flo’ [defensive coordinator Brian Flores] puts in, you’ve just got to make it come to life.”

The Vikings, Rodgers said, were showing a seven-man front before the play. “We got to something that we had talked about, and I peeked the back side or something to the left [of the play] to see if we were hot [under pressure] or not. And doing that, I totally lost the angle and he made a nice play.”

Former Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, who had 2½ sacks in the Vikings’ win over the Steelers at Wembley Stadium in 2013, joined former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora as the first inductees into the NFL’s London Ring of Honour, created to recognize players who stood out in the league’s games in England over the years.

Allen blew the Gjallarhorn before the game, and received a commemorative blazer from Vikings owner Zygi Wilf at halftime. Former Vikings teammates Kevin Williams, Brian Robison and Chad Greenway recorded video messages to congratulate Allen during the ceremony.

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